Recession reshaping America's work force

Today's Labor Day will be celebrated by a work force that has changed radically.

Over the past year, the labor market has suffered its most wrenching changes in a generation, shedding millions of jobs and changing the profile of the more than 131 million people who head to work every day.

American workers are older than they used to be, working fewer hours at cash-strapped companies, and less likely to be unionized. And far more are now out looking for a job — and spending longer on the job hunt.

The rapid change has come on top of longer-term transformations. In 1959, nearly 30 percent of all nonfarm workers had manufacturing jobs — by last month, that had fallen to 9 percent. Eighty years ago, about 20 percent of Americans worked on farms. Now it's less than 2 percent.

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As Americans left behind farms and factories, they donned the service-sector attire of aprons, neckties and telephone headsets, with about 36 percent of the work force now employed in the service sector.

While changes have been obvious, it's less clear what will be around the corner for U.S. workers. Analysts expect a long period of joblessness to continue, with the unemployment rate not returning to pre-recession levels until 2013 or later.

The big question is what kind of jobs will appear to replace those lost forever in the hard-hit financial services and construction sectors.

Here's a look at the changing U.S. labor force, by the numbers.

A horrible year

4 percent: The total decline over the last year in the U.S. nonfarm payroll, which stands at 131.5 million people.

9.4 percent: The current national unemployment rate, up from 4.7 percent when the recession began.